We are delighted to announce that Airtel Uganda is the latest recipient of a GSMA mWomen Innovation Fund grant.  Airtel Uganda joins our current grantees, Tigo Tanzania, Etisalat Africa and Orange Mali, all of which are developing innovative offerings designed to decrease the gender gap in mobile access and increase women’s use of mobile in their markets.

Airtel Uganda will work in close partnership with Grameen Foundation’s Mobile Financial Services team in Uganda to design and launch a mobile solution for women’s savings groups, using the Airtel Money platform.  These groups are prevalent across East Africa; it is estimated that, in Uganda alone, there are 45,000 savings groups with 900,000 members of which ~70% are female.  Grameen Foundation has conducted in-depth research into the activities and needs of these groups and has identified key pain points.  The new product will directly address these pain points by making the savings groups’ processes more secure, efficient and transparent.

The introduction of this innovative product will generate a variety of interesting lessons and insights, including:

• How women’s savings groups can play a role in introducing mobile financial services to underserved populations
• How user insights can be used to design mobile products which meet the needs of their target populations
• How a mobile operator and an NGO can work together in a way which makes the best use of their respective competencies and expertise.

The GSMA mWomen Global Development Alliance is a programme in partnership with USAID, AusAID, GSMA and Visa Inc.